Global ownership registry

Abstract

Described herein is a system in which an electronic record is stored on a distributed environment with respect to an item. In this system, transactions may be conducted for an item in an anonymous fashion. In some embodiments, a first user may input an item identifier associated with an item as well as an indication of an action to be performed with respect to that item. The identifier may be transmitted to a blockchain network, which may use that identifier to locate a blockchain associated with the item. A blockchain may include a series of transaction records associated with the item, each of which is signed using a private key. Upon performance of the indicated action, the blockchain network may generate a new transaction record, append that transaction record to the blockchain, and sign the transaction record.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 maintaining, by a processing node of an item registry network, a public blockchain and a private blockchain, wherein each of the public blockchain and the private blockchain include a series of transaction records, and wherein the private blockchain includes sensitive information unavailable via the public blockchain; 
 receiving, by the processing node, a request to perform a transaction with respect to an item, the request including at least an item identifier and an action to be performed with respect to the item; 
 determining a level of access associated with an originator of the request to perform the action with respect to the item; 
 identifying, by the processing node based on the item identifier, a blockchain associated with the item, the blockchain being selected from the public blockchain and the private blockchain based on the determined level of access; 
 identifying, by the processing node from a transaction record of the series of transaction records, a contact information for a current owner of the item; 
 providing, by the processing node, a notification of the requested transaction to the current owner via the contact information; 
 receiving, by the processing node from the current owner, a response indicating whether the transaction should be approved or declined; 
 completing, by the processing node, the requested action upon receiving a response to the notification from the current owner that indicates the transaction should be approved, wherein completing the requested action comprises initiating a payment transaction by charging a payment account provided by an originator of the request; 
 generating, by the processing node upon receiving an authorization response message for the transaction, a new private transaction record and a new public transaction record based on the action, the new transaction record signed by the processing node using a private key associated with the item registry network, wherein each transaction record of the blockchain is signed using the private key; and 
 appending, by the processing node, the new private transaction record to the private blockchain and the new public transaction record to the public blockchain. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising notifying at least one of the originator of the request or the current owner of a completion of the transaction. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the action is a transfer of ownership and the notification includes a receipt for the transaction. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the completion of the transaction is performed anonymously. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contact information for the current owner is identified from the latest transaction record in the series of transaction records. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the contact information comprises at least one of a phone number or an email address. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the requested action is completed upon detecting that a fulfillment of a condition indicated in the response has been met. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a level of access to be associated with an originator of the request, wherein the notification of the requested action is provided to the current owner if the level of access is sufficient to authorize the requested action. 
     
     
       9. A processing node of an item registry network comprising:
 one or more processors; and 
 a memory including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processing node to:
 maintain a public blockchain and a private blockchain, wherein each of the public blockchain and the private blockchain include a series of transaction records, and wherein the private blockchain includes sensitive information unavailable via the public blockchain; 
 receive a request to perform a transaction with respect to an item, the request including at least an item identifier and an action to be performed with respect to the item; 
 determine a level of access associated with an originator of the request to perform the action with respect to the item; 
 identify, based on the item identifier, a blockchain associated with the item, the blockchain being selected from the public blockchain and the private blockchain based on the determined level of access; 
 identify, from a transaction record of the series of transaction records, a contact information for a current owner of the item; 
 provide a notification of the requested transaction to the current owner via the contact information; 
 receive, from the current owner, a response indicating whether the transaction should be approved or declined; 
 complete the requested action upon receiving a response to the notification from the current owner that indicates the transaction should be approved, wherein completing the requested action comprises initiating a payment transaction by charging a payment account provided by an originator of the request; 
 generate, upon receiving an authorization response message for the transaction, a new private transaction record and a new public transaction record based on the action; 
 sign the new transaction record using a private key associated with the item registry network, wherein each transaction record of the blockchain is signed using the private key; and 
 append the new private transaction record to the private blockchain and the new public transaction record to the public blockchain. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The processing node of  claim 8 , wherein at least a portion of the information included in the new transaction record is encrypted. 
     
     
       11. The processing node of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the processing node to determine whether the originator of the request is authorized to perform the requested action. 
     
     
       12. The processing node of  claim 8 , wherein the blockchain is selected from at least a public blockchain or a private blockchain. 
     
     
       13. The processing node of  claim 12 , wherein the blockchain is selected based on a level of access associated with the request. 
     
     
       14. The processing node of  claim 12 , wherein the current owner is a resource provider. 
     
     
       15. A client device comprising:
 at least one input sensor; 
 one or more processors, and 
 a memory including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the client device to:
 obtain, via the at least one input sensor, an identifier for an item; 
 generate, based on input received from a user of the client device, a request to perform an action with respect to the item, the request including at least the identifier and an identifier for a payment account; 
 transmit the request to an item registry network, the request causing the item registry network to: 
 determine a level of access associated with the client device with respect to the item; 
 identify, based at least in part on the determined level of access, an item registry associated with the item from a plurality of item registries, the plurality of item registries comprising at least a public blockchain and a private blockchain, each of the public blockchain and the private blockchain including a series of transaction records, and wherein the private blockchain includes sensitive information unavailable via the public blockchain; and 
 complete the action with respect to the item using information included in at least one transaction record of the series of transaction records of the identified item registry by initiating a payment to a current owner of the item using the payment account; and 
 upon completion of the action, cause the series of transaction records in each of the public blockchain and the private blockchain to be updated by a processing node of an item registry network by appending a new transaction record to the series of transaction records of each of the public blockchain and the private blockchain indicating that a user of the client device is now the owner of the item, each new transaction record signed by the processing node using a private key associated with the item registry network, wherein each transaction record of the series of transaction records is signed using the private key; and 
 receive a response to the request that indicates completion of the action. 
 
 
     
     
       16. The client device of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the client device to:
 receive, from the item registry network, a notification that includes a second action to be performed with respect to a second item owned by the user of the client device; 
 receive input from the user indicating that the second action is authorized; and 
 transmit a response to the item registry network that causes it to update the item registry by adding a transaction record indicating the second action. 
 
     
     
       17. The client device of  claim 15 , wherein the action is an action to obtain ownership of the item. 
     
     
       18. The client device of  claim 17 , wherein the response to the request includes a receipt for the item. 
     
     
       19. The client device of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions are executed via a mobile application installed upon the client device. 
     
     
       20. The client device of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one input sensor is a barcode scanner.